Robban

Random question re crimpers. I occasionally need to crimp connectors at work and we have a tool that looks pretty much like this one and was about the same price if I’m not mistaken. The problem I’m having is that when I crimp the tiny connectors (for the “standard” JST housings) the little metal tabs don’t roll in on themselves cleanly. They often get “crushed” instead. What I have to do is get them started first by giving the tip of the little tabs a tiny bend inwards, then it works just fine.

Is that down to the crimping tool being crap or the little metal connectors being of poor quality? I mean, you shouldn’t have to pre-bend the tabs to get them to roll up properly, right?

I’ve been printing at 235C with PLA on my Ultimaker2 and it works just fine. On my Ultimaker Original I usually stayed around 210-220C or so. Your low printing temperature is likely what caused your test piece to de-laminate. PLA is harder than ABS so it can be slightly more brittle but with the correct printing settings it can be extremely strong. I’ve printed pieces that I figured would break if I sneezed in their general direction but they ended up being nigh impossible to break.

Also, PLA is generally considered easier to work with, not the other way around.

And finally, use a sharp drill bit and don’t go warp speed and you’ll be able to put clean holes through it no problem. For deeper holes you might want to consider adding a few drops of water to cool it down. Like most things in machining it comes down to using the correct approach. You can’t machine steel the same way you machine aluminium for example.

Hah, that spinny thing reminded me of how I used to play when I was a kid. I used a tiny electric motor from some toy, I cut a small paper disk and skewered it onto the axle. I then used pens in different colours to draw patterns :) Man that must’ve been 20-25 years ago now.

I made an Eagle part for this. You can download it here:
http://files.badlysprained.net/sneakypoo.lbr
There’s a couple of other parts in the library, just ignore them, didn’t feel like creating a separate file just for this one part. I’ve verified that the footprint works as I’ve just finished soldering a board using it.

I have to say I’m disappointed in the quality of the switch though. The first few times I used the switch it clicked nicely but very very quickly it lost its “clickyness” and it doesn’t give you any confidence that it’s doing what it’s supposed to. I dunno, maybe I got a bad batch.

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